Integrating the 16 Habits of Mind. In outcomes-based learning environments, we generally see three elements in play: 1) learning objectives or targets are created from given standards; 2) instruction of some kind is given; and then 3) learning results are assessed. These assessments offer data to inform the revision of further planned instruction. Rinse and repeat. But lost in this clinical sequence are the Habits of Mind that (often predictably) lead to success or failure in the mastery of given standards.
In fact, it is not in the standards or assessments, but rather these personal habits where success or failure -- in academic terms -- actually begin. Below are all 16 Habits of Mind, each with a tip, strategy or resource to understand and begin implementation in your classroom. The habits themselves aren't new at all, and significant work has already been done in the areas of these "thinking habits.
" And a renewed urgency for their integration. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Ask students to map out their own thinking process. 6. 7. 8. Instructional Strategies for Gifted Learners. Tips for Writing Instructional Objectives - Bloom's Taxonomy Job Aids. I am so delighted to see this post that includes Bloom's Taxonomy Wheels by ZaidLearn. I always find that it's far easier to design materials using these wheels than it is to see the verbs/products in lists.
Many instructional designers can benefit from these job aids when trying to find the right action verbs for their objectives. Here are some wheels for the cognitive domain. Source: Source: Source: Bloom’s digital taxonomy. Have fun, designers! Are You Left or Right Brain? Six Thinking Hats® Six Hats® ... A Critical and Creative Thinking Process that improves listening, speaking, reading and writing and is fun for ALL! Penn Hills PAGE Presentation " A special thank you to Franny for introducing me to the thinking hats and opening me up to becoming a better teacher by teaching my students to think about thinking.
" Jena Brodhead, Easton Area School District Improve academic performance in reading and writing with SIX THINKING HATS®. Think using six strategies problem solve make clear decisions design quality questions self assess collaborate more effectively The Research -- "Develop Critical and Creative Thinking Skills: Put on Six Thinking Hats®," PA Educational Leadership During the workshop the teachers will collaborate to learn the Six Hats® process and apply it to their content areas and standards. Six Thinking Hats® Cards: Key Words, Applications, Standards, and Examples How to Differentiate Instruction Using Six Hats® and 6 Product Choices- PowerPoint Web Resources: Ten Takeaway Tips for Teaching Critical Thinking. Suggestions from educators at KIPP King Collegiate High School on how to help develop and assess critical-thinking skills in your students. Ideally, teaching kids how to think critically becomes an integral part of your approach, no matter what subject you teach.
But if you're just getting started, here are some concrete ways you can begin leveraging your students' critical-thinking skills in the classroom and beyond. 1. Questions, questions, questions. Questioning is at the heart of critical thinking, so you want to create an environment where intellectual curiosity is fostered and questions are encouraged. For Jared Kushida, who teaches a global politics class called War and Peace at KIPP King Collegiate, "lecturing" means integrating a flow of questions throughout a lesson. In the beginning stages, you may be doing most of the asking to show your students the types of questions that will lead to higher-level thinking and understanding. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Critical Thinking Skills. Differentiation. The Best Resources On Differentiating Instruction. My colleague Katie Hull-Sypnieski is leading a February 1st Education Week Webinar on differentiating instruction, and I would strongly encourage people to participate. Katie’s the best teacher I’ve ever seen…. In addition, Katie and I have co-authored a piece for Education Week Teacher on the topic that will be appearing there soon (it’s appeared: The Five By Five Approach To Differentiation Success), and an upcoming post in my blog there will be talking about it, too (that two part series has also appeared).
I also did a second two-part series in Ed Week on differentiation. Also, check out The Best “Fair Isn’t Equal” Visualizations. Given all that, a “The Best…” post was inevitable, and here it is. Here are my choices for The Best Resources On Differentiating Instruction: The Best Places To Get The “Same” Text Written For Different “Levels” Busting Myths about Differentiated Instruction is by Rick Wormeli. Reconcilable Differences? Deciding to Teach Them All is by Carol Ann Tomlinson. Using Digital Tools for Differentiation. Direct Address to this Page: Anyone who has worked in education for any length of time knows just how important it is for teachers to create differentiated classrooms.
If schools are truly working to ensure success for every student, learning experiences need to be customized and aligned to student interests, needs, and unique learning styles. The challenge, however, rests in making differentiation manageable. While few teachers doubt the importance of differentiating, many struggle to make customized learning spaces a reality. In this February 2012 Alaska Staff Development Network webinar, sixth grade classroom teacher, blogger and educational technology author Bill Ferriter will introduce participants to a range of digital tools that can be used to (1). provide structure for differentiated classrooms and (2). differentiate learning experiences by student interest.
Today's Slides Today's Shared Reflection Document Differentiating YOUR Learning She writes: #nice Ms. Digital Differentiation. Technology is a tool that can be used to help teachers facilitate learning experiences that address the diverse learning needs of all students and help them develop 21st Century Skills. At it's most basic level, digital tools can be used to help students find, understand and use information. When combined with student-driven learning experiences fueled by Essential Questions offering flexible learning paths, it can be the ticket to success. Here is a closer look at three components of effectively using technology as a tool for digital differentiation. Note: The interactive graphics you see below have been updated.
They can be found in a newer post on this blog. The goal is to design student-driven learning experiences that are fueled by standards-based Essential Questions and facilitated by digital tools to provide students with flexible learning paths. Essential Questions: Student-driven learning experiences should be driven by standards-based Essential Questions. Differentiation - tools, tips and resources. Differentiation is an important aspect of education. Students learn differently, have different needs, different backgrounds, different skills, different ability levels, different interests and more. As educators, we try to create engaging lesson activities that provide a variety of learning experiences and allow students to demonstrate their learning in different ways. Differentiation should occur in both how students learn and gain knowledge and skills, and in how they demonstrate and are assessed on what they have learned.
“In the practice of education, differentiation is defined as working to address the abilities, interests, and needs (both perceived and real) of individuals. Differentiation provides students with opportunities to approach curriculum from their strengths, as varied as these might be.” (Sondergeld and Schultz, 2008). Here are some resources, tips, and tools on differentiation: Digital Differentiation - ideas and tools for differentiating with digital resources. Differentiating Using 21st Century Tools - Mahara. Ten Tips for Personalized Learning via Technology. At Forest Lake Elementary School, in Columbia, South Carolina, the student population grows more diverse by the day. Income levels, ethnicities, family structures, first languages, interests, and abilities now vary so much, that a traditional teaching approach, with a uniform lesson targeted to the average-level student, just doesn't cut it.
(Sound familiar to you educators out there?) To challenge and support each child at his or her own level, the Forest Lake teachers and staff are deploying a powerful array of widely available digital-technology tools. Each classroom is equipped with an interactive whiteboard and a Tech Zone of eight Internet-enabled computers. Plus, teachers have access to gadgets including digital cameras, Flip cameras, remote-response clickers, and PDAs.
More important than the gadgets themselves, of course, is how the teachers use them to create personalized lessons and a productive environment where each child is engaged. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Centers: Effective Structures for Differentiation. Photo by Woodley Wonder Works This article is written by Katie Haydon, founder of Ignite Creative Learning Studio. Learn more about Ignite at IgniteCreativeLearning.com or the Ignite Facebook page. Do you use centers in your primary classroom? If yes, you love them and can’t imagine life without them. If no, you can’t imagine how you could possibly trust your 30 to 35 students to work independently, nor can you figure out where you’d get the time to set them up.
Centers are an excellent tool for differentiation that will free you up to work with small groups of students, whether gifted, high-achievers, or those needing extra help. Centers, in my opinion, go beyond mundane and standard worksheet tasks. Though centers can be used at any time in the year, some teachers like to wait at least a week or two, and sometimes six weeks into the school year to implement them so that they can gain a greater understanding of their students and be confident that they are ready to follow protocol. Feedback Badges! | A great way to motivate and inspire your students! Letsgetengaged - home. Academically and Intellectually Gifted Students. Teaching the Gifted and Talented: 33 Websites Where You Can Find Good Resources. I wish the Internet was available to me as a kid in elementary school. In New York City, where I attended kindergarten through sixth grade, they called the gifted and talented class "SP".
I remember being put into a class to learn French, but very little else. I figured out how ahead I was only when I entered junior high school in New Jersey. The French language I had studied for three years allowed me to coast through French class for the next four years. Without anymore "SP" or "G and T" classes, I unfortunately developed a lazy attitude and eventually quit taking French in eleventh grade.
LESSON PLANS41 Ways to Go Beyond the Book Report Edsitement- from the National Endowment for the Humanities Gifted and Talented Education Lesson Plans Helpful Sites for Gifted Students Lesson Plan Resources- from Davidson GiftedMrs. Global Center for Gifted and Talented Children. Tomlin00. Tomlinson - Differentiation Central. Guide to special needs apps. Complete guide to educational and special needs apps With over 300,000 apps it's easy to become overwhelmed by the number of app choices. It's also easy to spend a small fortune on a lot of useless apps. As a special needs parent I wanted to get right to the "good stuff" and figured you did too.
Check out our guide that breaks down the best of the apps by skill set so you can easily find and buy apps that most benefit your child. By Dawn Villarreal, One Place for Special Needs Android apps (all) Android does not have the nice interface of iTunes for viewing apps on the Internet as opposed to your device. Aphasia appsApps specific to those with aphasia Apraxia appsApps specific to those with Childhood Apraxia of Speech Articulation appsApps that focus on articulation. Assistive technology apps Here are a variety of assistive technology apps employing voice recognition, text to speech, easy to use technology for impaired motor abilities. Autism appsApps specific to those on the autism spectrum. Top 10 Resources on Speech, Language, and Hearing. Differentiating the curriculum. The Policy and implementation strategies for the education of gifted and talented students: Support package: Curriculum differentiation (2004) (pdf 1345kb) provides an introduction to curriculum differentiation for gifted and talented students and is suitable for all stages of schooling.
It needs to be read in conjunction with the Policy and implementation strategies for the education of gifted and talented students (revised 2004) and its companion document (2004) (pdf 270kb). The purpose of differentiating the curriculum is to provide appropriate learning opportunities for gifted and talented students. Three important characteristics of gifted students that underscore the rationale for curriculum differentiation (Van Tassel–Baska, 1988) are the capacity to: learn at faster rates find, solve and act on problems more readily manipulate abstract ideas and make connections. The creation of a differentiated curriculum requires some pre-planning. Definitions Article (pdf 25kb) Acceleration Web page. Differentiating Instruction. Differentiating Instruction ... One Size Doesn't Fit All Effective Strategies to Improve Student Performance !
We have students in our classrooms who struggle academically and others who learn at an advanced level and accelerated pace. We can meet the needs of all learners by differentiating instruction. Testimonials about the workshops -- Fran McAleer is a valuable contributor to our work, training to create a new and better workplace in our schools. More! Franny McAleer has been providing staff development for teachers in the Berwick Area School District for the last four years, including whole staff workshops with the Six Thinking Hats as well as focused workshops detailing best practices with instructional strategies for gifted and honors students. AWESOME! Franny did a tremendous job of inspiring and engaging participants in a one-day training session on differentiation.
The presenter knew her topic and was open to all questions. Franny McAleer is a dynamic presenter. Readiness. Differentiating Instruction. Dare to Differentiate - 50 Terrific Teacher Tips! Ways To Differentiate Instruction - Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo. (This is the first post in a two-part series on differentiation) I posed this question last week: "What is the best advice you can give to a teacher about differentiating instruction? " I've shared my response in an Ed Week Teacher article that I've co-authored with my colleague, Katie Hull Sypnieski. It's titled "The Five By Five Approach To Differentiation Success.
" I'll limit my contribution here to sharing a useful link to The Best Resources On Differentiating Instruction. Experts in the field, though, have agreed to share their responses here, so today I'm pleased to publish answers from Carol Tomlinson and Rick Wormeli. Response From Carol Tomlinson Carol Tomlinson is an internationally-recognized leader and author in the field of differentiated instruction.
My journey with differentiation began in my middle school classroom when it was quite clear that my one-size-fits-all approach to teaching was, in fact, not fitting many of my students. There were many more questions, of course. Using Bibliotherapy with Gifted Children - Unwrapping the Gifted. Response to Intervention Introduction. Daretodifferentiate - home. Pre-Assessment. Daily Assessment with Tiered Exit Cards < Teaching Channel.